“Adequate Social Behavior” Is The Require ment For A Sports Contract Abroad for a Cuban Athlete

“Adequate Social Behavior” Is The Requirement For A Sports Contract
Abroad for a Cuban Athlete

14ymedio, Marcelo Hernandez, Havana, 18 March 2017 — To the voices that
call for more autonomy for athletes, the Cuban government has just
responded with a clear message. “To enter into a contract abroad, the
athlete” must have “adequate social behavior,” according to Ramiro
Domínguez, legal director of the National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER), speaking to the press

The official’s statement was accompanied by data about the number of
athletes residing on the island who obtained a contract in other
countries through the state entity. By the end of last year 61
agreements had been signed in different disciplines, and there are
“between 200 and 300 athletes engaged temporarily in tournaments,
training camps or leagues abroad,” he said.

Domínguez explained that to achieve one of these contracts the athlete
must also have “good teaching and sports results, be of interest to his
national federation and receive authorization from the country where he
would perform.”

INDER evaluates “the athlete’s living conditions in the club” where he
will play, “the right to represent Cuba when asked and his safety,” as
well as a “second medical opinion in case of injury or discomfort.” The
official commented that he is studying to implement a scheme for
“economic compensation” that would go to the State for the training the
athlete received in Cuba, and that “can be a fixed economic amount or
the equivalent of 20% of the contract in question.”

He clarified that in the case of baseball, the money that the Federation
collects in that way is not “to satisfy personal whims, but destined to
solve problems of the sport itself.”

“One of our main goals is to prevent the athlete from being treated as
merchandise,” and “every athlete hired leaves Cuba with a rigorous
medical examination, anti-doping test and aware of their contractual and
tax obligations, and in some cases accompanied by relatives,” Domínguez
pointed out.

Alfredo Despaigne from Granma province is the emblematic example of an
athlete hired by a foreign club. The player achieved a million dollar
contract with the Japanese club Fukuoka Hawks of Softbank, and according
to Domínguez does not have to pay the Cuban Federation of Baseball, nor
INDER.

“Once he returns to the country, the athlete will comply with tax
obligations, like all Cuban citizens who receive income abroad,”
Domínguez had indicated in an earlier statement.

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